Everyday discoveries

Posts Tagged ‘Café’

I haven’t yet had a chance to check out the new Gentle Gourmet cafe/bistro in the Bastille, but from what I’m hearing it is truly not to be missed. Particularly because…they have vegan breakfast croissants!

Photo from discoverparis.net

From the same team that brought us the (now closed) b&b of the same name, Gentle Gourmet opened in May serving a 100% vegan combination of French and Mediterranean food. The dishes vary with the seasons and are full of organic ingredients.

Open from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and even ‘le goûter.’ They also have a deli where you can pick up food for a quick picnic.

Our friends at VG-zone were impressed by the restaurant’s “elegance” which they say outdoes the general Parisian veg scene.

Prices are in the mid-range: entrées 9€, main courses between 12 and 16€ and desserts from 8€.

There are some French food experiences that a vegan is never going to have, but there are some that we can really enjoy and one of them is drinking a delicious chocolat chaud. This week I went to a place that does a vegan hot chocolate that’s also organic and really, really good: the shop is called ChocoLatitudes.

I spend a lot of time thinking about chocolate, but nowhere near as much as Laurence Alemanno the proprietor of this stylish yet totally friendly boutique. She has travelled the world’s chocolate-producing nations, much like Willy Wonka, and even did her PhD thesis on the cacao tree.

ChocoLatitudes is the mecca of chocolate: bars, candies, powders, fondue sets, decorative cacao pods, stylishly modern bamboo dishes, children’s chocolate books and even ‘choco vino’. I picked up carmelized cacao beans for myself, which are something very special, and a couple of Valentine’s heart chocolates on a stick for my two little cherubs. The shop also has a few tables and a counter to enjoy a hot chocolate and cookie [let her know you need a vegan cookie.] The hot chocolate is intense, dark, nutty and like nothing I’ve had elsewhere. It could almost have come from a chocolate waterfall. 5€ for the big cup, 2€ to get a small one at the counter.

They also carry Poppy raw chocolates: the owner recommended that the Maca one I bought would be a good one to share as a Valentine with my husband due to the alleged powers of raw chocolate and maca… oh those sexy Frenchies!

ChocoLatitudes is located on Rue Daguerre in the 14ème which is a very happenin’ street and well worth checking out even if you are from another part of town. They also hold chocolate workshops, and I should definitely mention that the bulk of the chocolate is fair trade and artisanal.

I had a nice salad for lunch today at Le Pain Quotidien in the 4th. There are lots of salads in Paris, which is great: nothing wrong with that. They’re green and one of the best things you can eat, alive with wonderful chlorophyll.

This charming Belgian café chain has locations all over the world, five of which are right here in the center of Paris. It’s by no means a vegan restaurant, but I appreciate so much the acknowledgment of putting a carrot symbol next to the vegan options. They have three salads, vegan soup everyday, a fruit salad and of course their wonderful organic, whole wheat pain au levain [sourdough bread.]

Sitting in the charmingly decorated location that they have in the Marais around the big communal table, we had a warming bowl of potimarron [chestnut-flavored squash] soup and two nice salads: one with artichokes and beans, the other with tofu and three tasty sauces. The tofu might have benefited from being marinated but it was still an impressive and satisfying salad. Just look at the photo I took!

When a vegan hits a Paris café, they’re probably going to be getting a salad and frîtes. That’s why it’s always such a treat to find a café with a salad that’s a bit special, such as the mysteriously named Le Pick-Clops in the Marais.

The killer salad at Pick-Clops is L’Inca, a satisfying mix of greens, layered with quinoa, lentils and avocado. And the frîtes are a bit special too, golden, crisp, mini disk-shaped potato slices.

Pick-Clops is a year-round treat because not long after the season for sitting under the misting sprays on the patio has passed, they break out the vin chaud. Indeed, although the patio is on a great people-watching corner, you are missing out if you don’t get inside and sample the 50s-retro style.

My kids love Pick-Clops because of their all-you-can-eat, dump-’em-on-your table peanuts policy. However, last time we were there we were told the peanuts are being phased out for a popcorn machine. Tense times… fingers crossed for a smooth transition.

As for the name, I asked what it meant and they told me “It’s English.”